And is it worth the wait-Characters: Magneto, Mystique, Captain America. Spider-Man, Spider-woman, anyone else in the Avengers towerSetting: The Avengers TowerContent: THE WRATH OF MAGNETOSummary: THE WRATH OF MAGNETO

Magnus had all the pieces and, he’d decided, he had no reason to give them up. There would be no trade, he’d bided his time and chosen a perfect moment to strike, why give up anything to these cretins? Pietro remained imprisoned on the island and Magneto would not only have Raven but the Avengers would know the extent of their folly by the time he was finished here. Their numbers were depleted and their defenses of a giant metal building were nothing to the Master of Magnetism. This would be laughably easy.

The trip from Genosha to New York was a short one with his usual teleporter. The journey through the city was a little more difficult with the waves upon waves of mindless creatures he had to take down. This was one thing his son was right about- he had no real idea of the scope of things. Still, the creatures were easy opponents and he got some little satisfaction from taking these diseased humans down. In a twisted way he was giving Pietro precisely what he’d wanted in clearing out street after street of rotting vermin- just not, perhaps, in any way his son would actually approve of. In retrospect it might have been entertaining to have brought Pietro along just to make him watch. A fitting punishment but too late to go through with it. Pity, but he’d come up with something more later.

When he got to the square between the Stark towers he found it delightfully devoid of any zombies- probably because of the armed S.H.I.E.L.D agents milling about, all of whom found their weapons promptly turned and fired against their skulls. With that task taken care of he looked up at the buildings, mulling over his options. A hospital, S.H.I.E.L.D., and the Avengers tower raised up above the city like some pretentious monolith to false gods. As much as he wouldn’t mind spreading the pain, he had a goal and he’d best stick to it. S.H.I.E.L.D. was for another day, the hospital did not even pose a challenge, it was the Avengers home he would be bringing down and Stark’s business headquarters with it. Another act of stupidity, that, and it shouldn’t have surprised him. Stark was a preening peacock, putting all his little toys in one building and demanding of the world look at me. If Magneto had his way, there would be nothing left here for the world to see.

Peter or rather, Spider-Man was just coming back into the business district for the day when the attack started. He'd been going out every morning looking for survivors for weeks now. It was all he could do to pass the time. More importantly though, it was vital to be out there reminding this city that there were still heroes out trying to save people. The Avengers (Spidey included) weren't going to give up on the world. Sadly today's outing had been met with mixed success. He managed to save a little boy, just not the parents. Spider-Man hadn't come in time. It was a hard thing to bear no matter the circumstances.

It wasn't until after he'd web slung over and landed on the side of the tower that Spidey even noticed something was wrong. It was the metal, of course that gave it away. It was such a strange feeling landing on a building vibrating like this. Unnatural was the first thought to come to mind. Danger was next.

Steve looked up as one of the S.H.I.E.L.D. radios went off, expecting another attack, but not one from an armed enemy. The radio buzzed with talk of gun fire, and Steve tugged on his cowl, scooping up his shield as he jogged for the exit. He pulled out his id card, and gave a hasty, "Avengers, Assemble."

Who in their right might would attack them in a time like this? There were civilians inside! He took the stairs two and three at a time to try and get down to the square, waiting for a response.

"The agents are down, Captain," Spider-Woman reported from her post from above. "I think someone's pissed at us." Really fucking pissed. And ready to take the whole bloody place down. She could feel the threatening vibrations beneath her fingers as well, it was unnerving, and when she spotted Spider-Man, jerked her head to follow her so they could make their way down to the Captain.

Magneto spotted his adversaries and the corners of his mouth turned up in a small smile. Here was the diminished Calvary. A man dressed like a flag and two pathetic spiders. None of them deserved the abilities they had, they weren't born with them. Aberrations parading as heroes and here they were, unable to protect their own. He'd pick them off, one by one, extract Mystique, then pull the whole miserable tower down around their heads. This attack was entirely justified and no mewling humans in spandex were going to stand in his way.

The building began shaking harder, Magneto's intent to weaken it even as he tried to shake off the Spider-Man. As the Captain came barreling out of the front doors he found the S.H.I.E.L.D. guns that had just killed their owners were all suspending in midair and turned towards him. They fired all at once, muzzles aimed at his chest.

Oh, Spider-Sense was going crazy. It was practically on DEFCON 2. What ever was doing this nonsense was not good! The building was increasing it's vibrations, everything was going to hell. Peter was having a time just holding on for dear life. With his jaw rattling and body on complete edge, he fished out his Avengers Indenticard for the word on what this nightmare was. What he got was Avengers Assemble and that pretty much said it all. That was when Pete spotted Jess through the glass. He followed her signal and looked down at Cap leading the charge. And oh, there was Magneto. Now it all made sense. He was going to do something bad wasn't he?

Very carefully, Spider-Man managed to leap from the side of the building and swing down on web line for the ground below. Once he got there It was really the display of death that did it in for Peter. How could anyone so brazenly kill all these innocent people? He hadn't seen anything like that since..the Goblin. "No! You Murderer!" Pete about lost it as he leaped up into the air at Mags. He swung a hard left right at his stupid face, completely forgetting the whole force field thing. BOOOONG! He bounced back into the air and landed on his feet still seeing nothing but red. "How could you do this.. How could you!?"

"Noted," Cap muttered, stepping out into the mess of bodies, sparing a brief moment to take it all in, jaw stiff. Someone really was pissed.

He didn't have long to mourn, shield raised, as bullets rained down on him from all sides. He ducked and rolled, most of the bullets pinging of the shield. Most was not all, however, and Steve winced, holding his shield close to his side.

So it was Magneto who was behind the unanticipated chaos. Spider-Woman paused mid-air, coming to the conclusion that the Avengers were absolutely fucked. And judging from Spider-Man's failed attack, she wouldn't be all that effective against the mutant, either. The next best thing was to evacuate the building. "I'm going in," Spider-Woman announced through her Identicard before flying back into the tower to round people up and get them out.

The spider boy's melodramatics were as entertaining to Magneto as watching the barrage of bullets raining down on Captain America. His third enemy had disappeared back into the building, he'd handle her later. For now he swept by the prostrate form of Spider-Man and muttered an answer to his desperate question of how?

"Oh, quite easily." Smirking, he swept his hand out and crooked a finger towards the Captain and his famous shield. The latter was jerked from Captain America's arms and came hurtling through space towards Magneto. In order to catch it he was forced to drop his defenses, just for a moment. He would crush the damnable thing and see how well Captain America managed without his shield.

The villain's words hit Peter like a ton of bricks. It was just so unbelievable. This man really was a monster and like the Goblin needed to be stopped at any cost. Ok, he could do this. It wasn't any different. Just another psycho with egomania. With Magneto's attention focused solely on Cap and his shield, Spidey shifted and saw his opening. He leaped high into the air and twisted into a somersault, after flipping over he fired a ball of webbing right at Magneto's face. Add another super villain to that checklist. It was almost like being punk'd. "That right there is one of my signature moves pal. Normally there's a fee, but since you're new to town..let's just call it's on the house."

While still in the air, Peter shifted and then followed up with another web line this time aimed right at Cap's shield. He landed on his feet with a snap and gave his new web line a hard yank. The tension in the webbing pulled and sent the star spangled shield right back to hands of it's owner. "Not nice to take things that don't belong to you. Didn't your mother teach you any manners Mags? Can I call you Mags?"

The cement the captain threw smashed against Magneto's shields and slid harmlessly away. Magneto quirked his eyebrow and a slow smile crossed his face as he waved his hand, wrenching the window panes loose from the building and sending the thick sheets of glass crashing hundreds of feet towards the ground, and the super soldier, below.

"Oh I think it's the perfect way," he remarked idly and crossed his arms, watching the destruction with that satisfied smile. The human up against him didn't stand a chance, they both knew it. Magnus was admittedly curious now to find out just how far the scion of superheroes would go in a hopeless fight.

Cap lifted his shield over his head, glass shattering all around him in a deafening crescendo.

He lowered his shield hesitantly, glass crunching under his boots as he took a few steps. "There are innocent people in there, Magneto." He wasn't sure how much he actually cared about that, come to think of it, and he added, "You're putting her in danger," he warned.

Although Captain America was correct and the former was of no concern to him, the latter did give him pause. He'd rather expected to go in and search, floor by floor, for her if necessary. It would be far easier to extract the information from his foe. Perhaps he could even barter- the captain's life for Raven's location. No, that wouldn't do, the Captain was far too moral for that. The lives of the civilians inside for the information, that had the edge of mercy that just might sate Captain America's appetite for self-righteous heroics and sacrifice. There was also another card to play, one that was, perhaps, still a surprise.

"Tell me where she is," he demanded, just to see what exactly what terms the captain would require in return.

"Speak to me like a man, no threats, and we'll see what we can do," Cap countered calmly. He needed to buy time for Jessica to get everyone out. He hadn't heard any reports in a while, and he tried not to let his concern show on his face.

He tugged his cowl off, looking to Magneto, man to crazy magnetic man, and arching a brow. "No one else has to get hurt."

"But they do. You saw to that as soon as you decided to keep her captive. You actually thought there would be no consequences?" Magnus barked a laugh and suddenly the pistols that had fired at Cap earlier suddenly rose and went flying towards him to pummel him. No more threats. Ridiculous. The man was in no position to demand that.

"If you want your precious innocent people in the tower to survive, you'd do well to tell me what I want to know. If you don't tell me you can trust I'll find out in other ways. You won't like that."

Steve lifted his shield again to knock the guns away, knowing that Magneto was toying with him by letting him keep it. He really should have stopped to pry out the bullets that hadn't gone straight through before taking on Magneto again.

"As I heard she came here of her own free will. We've been keeping her safe."

Magnus snorted and shook his head, crossing his arms in a temporary cease fire. His tone was taunting as he shot back, "That isn't exactly how I heard it when my son came to me of his own free will and I decided to 'keep him safe.'" He waited for the reaction at that, sure that the Avengers weren't aware that their compatriot had been taken.

Steve blinked slowly, lowering his shield, shoulders tense. That was...certainly news. He didn't even know Pietro was missing. Guilt flashed momentarily over his face, and he glanced back towards the tower.

Today she was Raven. She'd been sitting in the cell, musing, and wondering when Tony would come back. She was sick of Captain Righteous delivering her meals. The first quivers the the building had her looking about her cell, and quickly, she had resumed her natural form. Anxiety creased her face as she waited. She was either about to be liberated or executed.

When the door opened she stood calmly, waiting behind the glass. "...Hello, Darling."

The small smile that broke over his lips when he saw her was no indication of his actual feelings; he could very well have still been here to execute her. When his smile broadened and his shoulders relaxed she could at least rest assured that she was safe from him, for now. "You're certainly keeping strange company, my dear," he quipped though there was the smallest light of malice in his eyes. With an impatient gesture on his part the metal bands holding up the glass of the cell crumbled and the glass wobbled for a moment and then fell outwards to crash against Magneto's electromagnetic shield and shattered into thousands of little pieces over the floor.

Mystique looked away a moment, though it was hard to tell when her eyes were a solid mass of yellow, lips twitching, and she brushed her hair back from her face, carefully stepping out of the cell. The shards tinkled as she stepped out, and looked to Magnus with an expression that was difficult to read.

He regarded her silently for a moment, arms crossed over his chest. Eventually he ventured the question, "Why?" Even though he thought he knew the answer. Even though he didn't want to hear that answer. He waited, knowing that here where he was the victor in control and his adversaries fallen, they had all the time in the world.

He pursed his lips and now he was the one with an unreadable expression on his face. He understood the sentiment, of course, he just had the misfortune of being the father of extremely disappointing offspring. Which wasn't to say that, even now, he didn't care for them in his own way and knew very well that dire circumstances could lead to extremes.

"You could have asked me for help," he finally told her and lifted himself, hovering, a few feet above the ground before he held out his hand to her, offering to pull her up beside him.

She took his hand, giving him a pointed look. He wasn't interested in helping the people here. He intended to the let the world burn, and come out only when it was all gone and left for him to deal with as he pleased. A sentiment she used to admire, but he'd lumped his own kind in with the humans.

"And would you have come then? If I asked? Not when mutant kind screamed and pleaded?"

He quirked an eyebrow at her tone but pulled her close with an arm at her waist in an iron grip, ensconcing them both in his barrier and moving them out of the room and down the hall to pass through the hole where a window used to be. "I would have, yes," he answered and pulled them a fair distance from the tower, hovering with thousands of feet below them and nothing to protect Mystique if he let her fall. "The truth of the matter is, I hadn't realized-" He paused and gave a half shrug, not bothering to finish the admission. Obviously he'd garnered her resentment either way. Well, there were always opportunities to make up for it.

Magneto lifted his free hand and set the building to rocking on its foundations. This went on for a long moment before he crunched his hand into a fist and the tower buckled at the middle as if squeezed in an invisible vice. With a thrust of his fist downwards the whole thing crumbled. "We'll find them, my dear," he remarked as plumes of smoke began billowing up from the wreckage to fill the sky. The quick demise of Stark's egotistical monument was far more satisfying than he'd anticipated. "I promise."